‘Tis the season for commencement speeches, graduations and Big Scary Exciting Transitions.
As usual, the cats will not be left out of the drama.
As graduates everywhere move on to their next adventures, two Tabby’s Place teens have had their own promotion. And, just like high school seniors, Steve and Persephone are making the transition from the top of the heap to being freshmen all over again.
For a long time (think eons), Persephone and Steve have been our “in-between” kittens: too big for a condo/playpen in the lobby, too small for the rough and tumble 18-cat world of a suite. So they’ve served as the pint-sized sweethearts of Suite Marmalade in its ever-moving locations, from Adoption Room #1 to the Special Needs Suite.
Yesterday, it was agreed: Persephone and Steve have left behind the days of being “too small.”
Our not-quite-babies are (almost) all growed up…and now they’re the newest residents of Suite B.
To mark this momentous occasion, several notables stepped forward with offers to give the commencement speech, including Winston Churchill, Harriet Tubman, ZZ Top, Carrot Top and this guy. But, we had to turn them all down when we heard that Tashi would be available for the event.
Once we heard his seasoned advice to the grads, however, we wondered if maybe we should have given ol ZZ the nod.
Among the pearls of wisdom Tash shared with our impressionable youth:
* Explosive diarrhea will always, always, always get human beans’ attention. Tashi has made a fine art (or at least a form of modern art) of this “hobby.” Given Steve’s history of the other kind of inappropriate elimination, we can only hope he doesn’t test out Tashi’s advice in Suite B. Steve does adore human beans, and with 17 roomies to compete with, he may try out some new tricks for getting attention.
* When in doubt, act like a screaming maniac. “Screaming maniac” being Tashi’s default setting, he would love nothing more than for the next generation to follow his fiesta of ridiculousness. Are there other cats around? Grab them by the neck – maybe it’ll be a hug, maybe it’ll be a fight. Finding out which is part of the fun. Humans are equally good for loving and screaming at. I can only hope that Tash doesn’t teach Steve and Persephone some of the salty language for which he’s known; if we were to translate some of the yowly meowlies that come out of his mouth…well, suffice to say that I couldn’t translate them on this family-friendly blog.
And Tashi’s ultimate piece of advice for the grads…
* Don’t ever, ever, ever be ashamed of who and what you are. Paraplegic? Don’t sweat it. Move in your own way. Enjoy eating cardboard? More power to ya – mmmm, cardboard. Shy? You is what you is. Nutty as a fruitcake? You were made that way – you’re best off accepting it and reveling in your nuttiness every waking moment.
Hmmmm. On second thought, maybe Tashi was the right commencement speaker, after all. With a mentor like this, we can trust that Persephone and Steve will have a confident and happy ride ahead in the adult world…and, God willing, forever homes that will love them for the moody, marvelous teenagers they are. 😉
PS: Special thanks to wonderful Tabby’s Place friends Heather and Louise, who, respectively, took the photos of wild savage Tashi biting the ball and wild savage Tashi eating cardboard.
Awww, Angela, you leave me speechless. What a wonderful post. You’re so clever. Best of luck to Steve and Persephone in their new digs! And God Bless Uncle Tashi for giving such a wonderful commencement speech.
My Pubert, Suri, Bonzai, and Tara also enjoy eating cardboard, preferably with a side order of paper towels. Mmm, processed wood products. 🙂
The graduation/promotion that I know we all would like to see next is to forever homes, the right match is out there it just hasen’t shown up yet, but be patient.
AWWW!!!! Congrats Steve & Persephone!! May you shine in Suite B and find your forever homes 🙂 Oh, and steer clear of a certain orange tabby who shall remain nameless! 🙂
What pawsome advice! Tashi knows his stuff.
This is also the season of celebrating our one year anniversary with Zedoary (now known as Z) whom we adopted one year ago. Z and our black labrador Roxy have become the best of friends as you will see by the photos. I hope that the rest of the spice girls from 2009 have found their “forever” homes and are making their families as happy as Z makes us.